3 held after cops find bootleg CDs

September 29, 2003

CHICAGO — Following a tip from recording industry investigators, Chicago police said they confiscated thousands of allegedly pirated compact discs in a Southwest Side house Sunday morning and arrested three men accused of selling them.

Tactical officers in unmarked cars pulled the men over at 8:30 a.m. at West 63rd and South Mozart Streets, said Sgt. John Drapiewski. "Numerous boxes of these bootleg CDs" were found in their car, he said.

The men consented to a police search at their house in the 6300 block of South Mozart Street, and police and agents from the Recording Industry Association of America discovered nearly 5,000 more CD recordings inside, police said.

Lorenzo Cruz, and Jose Mata, both 40, and Joaquin Montoya, 37, who share the Mozart Avenue address, were all charged with unlawful use of sound recordings, a felony.